Guatemala City to Xela!!!!!!

el 17 de junio 2011

I woke up at 6:10 this morning (by alarm clock) after a surprisingly restful night. Patricia's is not far from the airport and it was very noisy. I slept 9 hours. It was not too cold in the morning, which was good because I had a very lukewarm shower with poor water pressure... welcome to authentic Guatemala! I packed up my belongings and Patricia told me it was time for breakfast. She served pancakes, pineapple, watermelon, bananas, and coffee. I ate breakfast with a woman named Ellen who has lived in Guatemala for twenty years. She was a teacher at a Christian school when she came. We left at 7:15 to drop her off at the airport and then we continued on to the bus station for me to catch my bus to Xela.

I bought a ticket and got on the bus without a problem. I was a little worried that I would only be allowed one piece of luggage, but they accepted both my suitcase and my duffel bag without a word. The bus was only about half full so I had the seat next to me empty. I spent the first part of the trip looking at the window and enjoying the view. Things of note that I saw included an advertisement for Special K, a Walmart, and lots of advertisements for presidential candidates. They showed the movie Rango on the bus. It was in English, but I could not hear the audio. I kind of watched it, mostly preferring the view from my window. There were subtitles in Spanish, but they were hard to see because I was kind of far from the TV. We stopped about 2.5 hours into the journey at a restaurant with bathrooms. I went to the bathroom and then sat and read my (Jenny's) Lonely Planet Guatemala book. We eventually left about a half hour after we arrived. The rest of the trip I fluctuated between reading the Guatemala book and looking out the window. I got excited when I began to recognize places from last year. I was actually surprised by how clearly I remembered places (like the restaurant where we used the bathroom). At the bus station, I was met by a man from the school (or so they said... I think the school hired him to drive me). He spelled my last name with a T! Dad, I bet you don't have that spelling in your collection! I chatted with the driver while we drove to the school. He told me I know a lot of Spanish! :)

When I arrived at the school, I was told I had to pay Q30 for the taxi. I did not realize that, although I should have known. I only had Q25 left over from my bus ticket, which was embarrassing. The man said it was ok after I offered him my two Guatemalan coins worth about 15 cents. I talked with Dora and signed some papers. Luckily she didn't ask me to pay then because I have not had a chance to get to an ATM. I took a tour of the school and met my teacher Carolina. Since they already have a Carolina in the school, I am not called by my Spanish name, but rather Caroline. Sandy, my host mom, was going to meet me at the school after she finished her classes. When I saw her walk in the door, we went running to each other and she couldn't stop hugging me. We were so glad to see each other! Sandy helped me move my stuff to her apartment. She only lives two blocks from the school! Her apartment complex is very famous (according to her) and it seems nice and safe. It is interesting because it is a shared apartment. Sandy and her daughter Gabby (and I) live here, but so do other people. I think there are six in total. We have our own bedrooms which lock, but we share the kitchen, dining/living room, and the bathroom. There is a balcony off the apartment and there are stairs to the roof. Sandy took me up and showed it to me. It is very pretty with lots of flowers in pots and a great view. Sandy fed me a fast lunch consisting of a soup with greyish pieces (mushrooms?) and tuna on crackers and potatoes. I was nearly late to school, but I made it right on time (2pm).

Carolina and I went upstairs to an empty classroom. She gave me a Spanish exam which was easy. After she saw how well I did on it, she made me conjugate a bunch of verbs and I only messed up on one verb! We did lots of oral exercises and a few written ones. We are doing a very fast review of the grammar. I kept telling her that I am decent with Spanish grammar but what I really need to practice is conversing. We took a break at 4:30 and I used the internet at the school to email my family. I went downstairs and met some of the other students, in particular a girl named Bernadette. She is leaving Xela soon. By the way, Xela (pronounced SHAY-lah) is another name for the city of Quetzaltenango. After the break, we did more exercises and then I read some short stories and answered questions about them. At the end of the class, it was quite dark. We went downstairs and I talked with Olga, the director of the school. She is an exuberant person. I borrowed a book by Isabel Allende (in Spanish). As my homework for the weekend, I have to write a composition using the preterite past tense and read at least the first chapter of the Allende book.

I walked home and made it there safely. I had a bit of trouble getting the door to the apartment unlocked, but I finally got it open. Gabby (Sandy's daughter of about 20 years) was the only one home. She said that Sandy would not be home until late. She helped me get some dinner (two eggs, a flaky roll with unidentifiable meat inside, and water. I talked to Gabby while I ate. She is reading a book in English. I explained the words deer, doe, and fawn to her. It was like a guessing game because how do you explain a deer without using that word (and being limited in your Spanish vocabulary). I gave the following clues: it's an animal that lives in the forest and hunters like to hunt them, and the males have horns. She guessed the word and I recognized it. We high-fived to celebrate our accomplishment. From there, it was easy to explain doe and fawn. After dinner, I washed my dishes and Gabby helped me connect to the internet. There is good signal in the living room, but none in the bedrooms.

A man came home and was cooking and watching TV. Gabby went out. I replied to emails (most in Spanish) and then wrote this blog entry. I am really tired even though it is just 9pm. Sandy still is not home, but I am getting sleepy. I think I will go to my room and unpack a little and get ready for bed. I think I might meet up with Andrea Sheridan (the "stranger" Tammy and I shared a room with in Costa Rica) tomorrow.